SB 2190

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Hopson, Sparks
Senate Bill 2190
(As Passed the Senate)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27�103�203, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF
1972, TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM BALANCE REQUIREMENT OF THE WORKING CASH-STABILIZATION
RESERVE FUND FROM 10% OF THE TOTAL GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE CURRENT
FISCAL YEAR TO 15%; TO DELETE OUTDATED PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE AYERS SETTLEMENT
FUND; TO AMEND SECTION 27-103-213, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE
LIMIT ON THE DIVERSION OF THE UNENCUMBERED GENERAL FUND BALANCE TO THE WORKING
CASH-STABILIZATION RESERVE FUND FROM 10% OF THE GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATIONS FOR
THE FISCAL YEAR THAT THE UNENCUMBERED GENERAL FUND CASH BALANCE REPRESENTS TO
15%; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 27-103-211, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR
POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
���� BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
���� SECTION 1.� Section
27-103-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
���� 27-103-203.� (1)� There is
created in the State Treasury a special fund, separate and apart from any other
fund, to be designated the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund.
���� (2)� The Working Cash-Stabilization
Reserve Fund shall not be considered as a surplus or available funds when
adopting a balanced budget as required by law.� The State Treasurer shall
invest all sums in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund not needed for
the purposes provided for in this section in certificates of deposit,
repurchase agreements and other securities as authorized in Section 27-105-33(d)
or Section 7-9-103, as the State Treasurer may determine to yield the highest
market rate available. * * *� If the Ayers Settlement Fund is created under Section 37‑101‑27(5),
the first Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) of interest earned on those sums
each fiscal year shall be deposited into that fund until a total of Seventy
Million Dollars ($70,000,000.00) has been deposited into the fund.�
The interest * * *, or the
remaining interest if the Ayers Settlement Fund is created, that is
earned on those sums shall be deposited in the Working Cash-Stabilization
Reserve Fund until the balance of principal and interest in the fund reaches * * * ten percent (10%) fifteen percent (15%)
of the total General Fund appropriations for the current fiscal year, and all
interest earned in excess of amounts necessary to maintain the * * * ten percent
(10%) fifteen percent (15%) fund balance requirement shall be
deposited by the State Treasurer into the State General Fund.
���� (3)� The Working Cash-Stabilization
Reserve Fund * * *, except
for Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) and the amount of the interest and
income earned on the principal of the Ayers Endowment Trust created by Section
37‑101‑27, shall be used by the State Treasurer for cash
flow needs throughout the year when the Executive Director of the Department of
Finance and Administration certifies that in his opinion there will be cash
flow deficiencies in the State General Fund.� No borrowing of monies from other
special funds for such purposes as authorized by Section 31-17-101 et seq.,
shall be made as long as an unencumbered balance * * * in excess of Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) and
the interest and income earned on the principal of the Ayers Endowment Trust
created by Section 37‑101‑27 remains in the fund.� The
State Treasurer shall reimburse the fund for all sums borrowed for those
purposes from General Fund revenues collected during the fiscal year in which
those funds are used.� The State Treasurer shall immediately notify the
Legislative Budget Office and the State Department of Finance and Administration
of each transfer into and out of the fund. * * *� Fifteen
Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) in the Working Cash‑Stabilization
Reserve Fund shall remain available for exclusive use of the Ayers Endowment
Trust created by Section 37‑101‑27.� If the Ayers Settlement Fund
is created under Section 37‑101‑27(5), beginning when a total of
Fifty‑five Million Dollars ($55,000,000.00) has been deposited into the
fund, for each annual deposit of interest to that fund under subsection (2) of
this section, the Ayers Endowment Trust created under Section 37‑101‑27(1)
shall be reduced by an equal amount annually until the Ayers Endowment Trust
reaches Zero Dollars ($0.00), at which time any requirements concerning the
Ayers Endowment Trust in this section shall be null and void.
���� (4)� The Working Cash-Stabilization
Reserve Fund, except for Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00), shall also be
used for the purpose of covering any projected deficits that may occur in the
General Fund at the end of a fiscal year as a result of revenue shortfalls.� If
the Governor determines that a deficit in revenues from all sources may occur,
it shall be the duty of the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and
Administration to transfer such funds as necessary to the General Fund to
alleviate the deficit in accordance with Sections 27-104-13 and 31-17-123;
however, not more than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00) may be
transferred from the fund for that purpose in any one (1) fiscal year.
���� (5)� The Working Cash-Stabilization
Reserve Fund also shall be used to provide funds for the Disaster Assistance
Trust Fund when those funds are immediately needed to provide for disaster
assistance under Sections 33-15-301 through 33-15-317.� Any transfer of funds
from the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund to the Disaster Assistance
Trust Fund shall be made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (5) of
Section 33-15-307.
���� (6)� The Department of
Finance and Administration shall immediately send notice of any transfers made,
or other action taken under authority of this section, to the Legislative
Budget Office.
���� (7)� Funds deposited in the
Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall be used only for the purposes
specified in this section, and as long as the provisions of this section remain
in effect, no other expenditure, appropriation or transfer of funds in the
Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall be made except by act of the
Legislature making specific reference to the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve
Fund as the source of those funds.
���� (8)� Any funds appropriated
from the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund that are unexpended at the end
of a fiscal year shall lapse into the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund.
���� SECTION 2.� Section
27-103-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
���� 27-103-213.� (1)� The
unencumbered cash balance in the General Fund in the State Treasury at the
close of each fiscal year shall be distributed to the Municipal Revolving Fund,
the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund and the Capital Expense Fund in the
manner provided in this section.
���� (2)� (a)� At the end of each
fiscal year, the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration
and the State Treasurer shall determine the extent of the unencumbered cash
balance existing in the General Fund in the State Treasury.
��������� (b)� As used in this
section, the term "unencumbered cash balance" or "unencumbered
General Fund cash balance" means the amount in the State General Fund
after deducting all appropriations and other expenditures.� However, if the
Legislature has authorized additional or deficit appropriations or transfers
from the State General Fund for that fiscal year, those amounts shall be
subtracted from the unencumbered cash balance in the General Fund before
determining the amount available for distribution.� The unencumbered General
Fund cash balance shall not be determined until after August 31 of each year,
and it shall not be made until the State Treasurer has received a certificate
in writing from the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and
Administration, with notification to the Legislative Budget Office, showing the
amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance.
���� (3)� If any unencumbered
General Fund cash balance is available for distribution under this section, the
distribution of those funds shall be made by the Executive Director of the
Department of Finance and Administration in the following order:
��������� (a)� To the Municipal
Revolving Fund, an amount equal to Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars
($750,000.00); however, if the amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash
balance is less than Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000.00), then
the total amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance shall be distributed
to the Municipal Revolving Fund.
��������� (b)� To the Working
Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund, up to fifty percent (50%) of the amount
of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance after the distributions are made
under paragraph (a), not to exceed * * * ten percent
(10%) the amount needed to bring the balance of the Working Cash-Stabilization
Reserve Fund to fifteen percent (15%) of the General Fund appropriations
for the fiscal year that the unencumbered General Fund cash balance
represents.� For the purposes of this paragraph (b), the appropriations for the
fiscal year shall be the total amount contained in the actual appropriation
bills passed by the Legislature.
��������� (c)� To the Capital
Expense Fund, any remaining amount of the unencumbered General Fund cash
balance after the distributions are made under paragraphs (a) and (b).
���� SECTION 3.� Section
27-103-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
���� 27-103-211.� The total sum
appropriated by the Legislature from the State General Fund for any fiscal year
shall not exceed ninety-eight percent (98%) of the general fund revenue
estimate for that fiscal year developed by the Department of Revenue and the
University Research Center and adopted by the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee.� The unencumbered balances in general funds that will be available
and on hand at the close of the fiscal year shall not include projected amounts
required to be deposited into the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund under
Section 27-103-203.
���� SECTION 4.� This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.